The state offered two former employees thousands of dollars more if they would sign agreements mandating their secrecy, the workers told the Register. Frank, the design engineer, said she received an additional $5,000 for agreeing to a confidentiality clause.

The first rule of confidentiality clause is "do not talk about confidentiality clause". She should give the $5000 back and take a lot more when she wins the law suit.

Interesting to see the ranges of settlements people took. I bet Ken Thorton is really kicking himself for taking $30k less than Gary Forshee. They probably had a whole office rivalry thing going on even before this happened.

So... Republican Governor gets elected in Iowa,. Starts pitching out qualified people who've been doping their jobs for years and replacing them with loyal unqualified politically aligned friends. Tries to hush the entire thing up by paying out fired employees in court along with a tidy 5K bonus if they signed a confidentiality agreement.

So... how are we hearing about this again?

The Register obtained the settlements through Iowa's open-records law. State officials acknowledged last week that without the Register's specific request for these records, there was little chance the public would have known about the settlements.

Deichmann worked with the Culver administration to develop strategies to reduce infections that commonly occur in hospitals, efforts that included mandated statewide reporting. The effort was paid partly with money from the federal health care reform law, commonly called Obamacare and generally opposed by Republicans. Groups influential to Republican lawmakers including the Iowa Hospital Association generally opposed any sort of oversight or mandatory reporting related to infections. Gerd Clabaugh, the Department of Public Health's deputy director who was appointed by Branstad, resisted Deichmann's efforts related to the infection program.

I get on fark, and i always see stupid to borderline comic book evil stunts by Republicans.

I know that both sides have it's stinkers, and that Democrats are not pure either. But, i might have a bias here in thinking that the Democrats don't do nearly as much awful shiat as the Republicans do, at least not in the last 4-5 years.

Am i missing something? Am i in an echo chamber, or is it wrong for me to think that Republicans are really just spiteful, hateful, assholes?

I mean, Sarah Palin went to a CPAC or a Cwhatever with a 48oz coke yelling freedom for what some Democrat did in New York, and on the other hand, people CAN NOT VOTE in some states because of Republican voter disenfranchisement.

FlashHarry:he was swept in with the other tea party scumbags in '10. hopefully iowans will come to their senses and shave this mustache once and for all.

The really ignorant thing about this term for Branstad is, before his election voters were questioning why he would want to leave a lucrative dream job to run for Governor again. Those who werent ignorant were replying to that question with "geez, why do you think?". It was obvious the intention was to use the position to further the personal and financial interests of Branstad and his cronies -not to represent or improve the state.

pchouky:Deichmann worked with the Culver administration to develop strategies to reduce infections that commonly occur in hospitals, efforts that included mandated statewide reporting. The effort was paid partly with money from the federal health care reform law, commonly called Obamacare and generally opposed by Republicans. Groups influential to Republican lawmakers including the Iowa Hospital Association generally opposed any sort of oversight or mandatory reporting related to infections. Gerd Clabaugh, the Department of Public Health's deputy director who was appointed by Branstad, resisted Deichmann's efforts related to the infection program.

whither_apophis:pchouky: Deichmann worked with the Culver administration to develop strategies to reduce infections that commonly occur in hospitals, efforts that included mandated statewide reporting. The effort was paid partly with money from the federal health care reform law, commonly called Obamacare and generally opposed by Republicans. Groups influential to Republican lawmakers including the Iowa Hospital Association generally opposed any sort of oversight or mandatory reporting related to infections. Gerd Clabaugh, the Department of Public Health's deputy director who was appointed by Branstad, resisted Deichmann's efforts related to the infection program.

AnonAmbientLight:I get on fark, and i always see stupid to borderline comic book evil stunts by Republicans.I know that both sides have it's stinkers, and that Democrats are not pure either. But, i might have a bias here in thinking that the Democrats don't do nearly as much awful shiat as the Republicans do, at least not in the last 4-5 years.

Am i missing something? Am i in an echo chamber, or is it wrong for me to think that Republicans are really just spiteful, hateful, assholes?I mean, Sarah Palin went to a CPAC or a Cwhatever with a 48oz coke yelling freedom for what some Democrat did in New York, and on the other hand, people CAN NOT VOTE in some states because of Republican voter disenfranchisement.

Well, in this particular case I don't think you see Democrats stacking agencies with incompetent partisan cronies often because they tend to believe government should actually work effectively. When you believe, as Republicans these days seem to, that the government is always the problem and is hopelessly broken it tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Part of Deichmann's job was to improve reporting of infections contracted at hospitals - a role opposed by multiple medical groups closely aligned with the GOP

Let me get this straight. Part of the GOP's 'replace' part of repeal and replace involves actively discouraging hospitals from figuring out if they're making their patients sicker? Who the fark can call themselves a doctor or even a 'medical group' and oppose finding out why people get sick?

fusillade762:Well, in this particular case I don't think you see Democrats stacking agencies with incompetent partisan cronies often because they tend to believe government should actually work effectively. When you believe, as Republicans these days seem to, that the government is always the problem and is hopelessly broken it tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

No, see, this is how it works.

Everything is either 100% right or 100% wrong. Every wrong thing that someone does is an equal level of wrong. Murder, arson, jaywalking, they're all the same.

Therefore, it's acceptable to do wrong just as long as you have fewer "wrong points" than the other side. You do this by going all-out evil (remember, since every "wrong" is judged the same, no sense going halfway), and then spend the rest of your time relentlessly nitpicking the other side so that you have piles and piles of "wrongs" to lay in their corner to prove that they're worse.

Thus, you justify yourself by saying "Well, we may be relegating huge swaths of the population to second-class citizenry, but the other guys took a selfie at a funeral, and eat fancy mustard. So, see, we're only doing ONE thing wrong while they're doing TWO, therefore they're TWICE AS BAD."

fusillade762:Well, in this particular case I don't think you see Democrats stacking agencies with incompetent partisan cronies often because they tend to believe government should actually work effectively. When you believe, as Republicans these days seem to, that the government is always the problem and is hopelessly broken it tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

THIS

The Dems actually want to help people and make government work as it should, you know, bridges, roads, food stamps, health care.

The GOP had moved into "government can make my friends and me rich!!! WOHOOOO!!!!"

Vexed Thespian:FlashHarry: he was swept in with the other tea party scumbags in '10. hopefully iowans will come to their senses and shave this mustache once and for all.

he was the one thing that made me vote for the incumbent douchebag, dont even remember his name with his stupid soda tax deposit bullshiat and other idiocies.

he even had a punchable face, which i can remember, just not his stupid name, which i had to farking vote for to try and stop this turd from coming back to office

Chet Culver. AKA "The Big Lug".

This doesn't surprise me about Bumstad. Generally, however, he has not been horrific for the state, and generally avoided scandal. Well, other than his drunken kid killing an elderly couple in a car accident. He did even buck the GOP back in the 80's when he signed gambling into law.

Given that the modmins approve of derpsauce links, Fark isn't a Dem/Lib haven.

Honestly, I want to see links showing actual horrible things elected Ds are doing, so we can kick them out.

But then, that's one thing about the Democratic party: they shove over the ledge anyone who's a loonie, an exposed crook, or a PR nightmare. The Republicans put theirs front and center and rally around them.

Lackofname:Given that the modmins approve of derpsauce links, Fark isn't a Dem/Lib haven.

Honestly, I want to see links showing actual horrible things elected Ds are doing, so we can kick them out.

But then, that's one thing about the Democratic party: they shove over the ledge anyone who's a loonie, an exposed crook, or a PR nightmare. The Republicans put theirs front and center and rally around them.

The easiest way to find someone horrible in the Dem party is to go to local politics. Of course, at that point it doesn't matter, because local politics tend to ignore party lines when it comes to corruption.

/Sure, there might be a handful of dems on the state and national level that are bad, but they don't put their crazies front and center and hold them up on a pedestal like the GOP has been doing lately.

MFAWG:Kumana Wanalaia: When GW Bush came to office, he stacked the departments with political cronies.

One of these hires was the head of FEMA. Then Katrina hit. But hey, I'm sure it will all work out swell this time.

Patronage is as old as the hills.

Political patronage is also one of the big reasons to have a professional civil service. And gov't unions. Because it wastes everybody's time to have a new IT director for the Dept of Transportation every gubernatorial election. The new gov shouldn't be able to fire people just for being in a different political party.

Farkin_Crazy:Vexed Thespian: FlashHarry: he was swept in with the other tea party scumbags in '10. hopefully iowans will come to their senses and shave this mustache once and for all.

he was the one thing that made me vote for the incumbent douchebag, dont even remember his name with his stupid soda tax deposit bullshiat and other idiocies.

he even had a punchable face, which i can remember, just not his stupid name, which i had to farking vote for to try and stop this turd from coming back to office

Chet Culver. AKA "The Big Lug".

This doesn't surprise me about Bumstad. Generally, however, he has not been horrific for the state, and generally avoided scandal. Well, other than his drunken kid killing an elderly couple in a car accident. He did even buck the GOP back in the 80's when he signed gambling into law.

Nah, he's more of an authoritarian/crook hypocrisy type then a party stooge. Use and abuse the laws and power to get the most for you and your buddies, looking "tough on crime" while committing your own offenses and sacking anyone who calls you on it.

Pretty sure the reason he won in 2010 was less the national tide, as much as it was that Culver really didn't seem to be trying that hard to get re-elected. Kind of like he was running because he felt the had to.

TommyDeuce:Nah, he's more of an authoritarian/crook hypocrisy type then a party stooge. Use and abuse the laws and power to get the most for you and your buddies, looking "tough on crime" while committing your own offenses and sacking anyone who calls you on it.

Pretty sure the reason he won in 2010 was less the national tide, as much as it was that Culver really didn't seem to be trying that hard to get re-elected. Kind of like he was running because he felt the had to.

/Have met Brandstad before.//Washed my hands well after shaking his

I don't dispute any of what you say. He is a huge shill for Farm Bureau and large ag. And his $200 million tax break boondogle for a firm (OraSCAM) that had been sued for defrauding taxpayers was blatant ignorance on his part.

And what is telling about this is, as you allude, his penchant for cronyism, while dumping people for what appear to be non-partisan positions in the state, for partisan reasons. And then trying to hide it with non-disclosure agreements.

The Big Lug was just in the right spot at the right time, and I think he was just overwhelmed by just what a Governor does, to be honest with you.

/Still miss Bob Ray.//He was truly a good Governor for the Hawkeye State.

Farkin_Crazy:Vexed Thespian: FlashHarry: he was swept in with the other tea party scumbags in '10. hopefully iowans will come to their senses and shave this mustache once and for all.

he was the one thing that made me vote for the incumbent douchebag, dont even remember his name with his stupid soda tax deposit bullshiat and other idiocies.

he even had a punchable face, which i can remember, just not his stupid name, which i had to farking vote for to try and stop this turd from coming back to office

Chet Culver. AKA "The Big Lug".

This doesn't surprise me about Bumstad. Generally, however, he has not been horrific for the state, and generally avoided scandal. Well, other than his drunken kid killing an elderly couple in a car accident. He did even buck the GOP back in the 80's when he signed gambling into law.

Yeah, I can never get a read on Branstache. On the one hand he'll do some crazy right-wing thing like sign a bill that he has to mandate all abortions for women on assistance. Then on the other hand, he'll join up with two or three Democrats at the Council of Governors saying "no, Pentagon, you aren't going to violate federal law and downsize our states' National Guard end strength without our consent. Cut something else from your bloated budget."

I don't see myself voting to keep a Republican in the governor's office. But when I look around the country at other Republican governors, his current term hasn't given me much to complain about.

clkeagle:I don't see myself voting to keep a Republican in the governor's office. But when I look around the country at other Republican governors, his current term hasn't given me much to complain about.

I guess...in comparison to the likes of Scot Walker, Jan Brewer, Chris Christie and some others.

Frederick:Farkin_Crazy: /Still miss Bob Ray.//He was truly a good Governor for the Hawkeye State.

So good for such a long time that the law of averages necessarily meant future years of crappy governors to achieve balance.

/Met Gov. Ray a couple years ago on the skywalk and was surprised at how slight he was.

Bob Ray was a guy who ran the state without an R or D behind his name.Yeah, he is not a big guy. I met him a couple of times towards the end and after he left Terrace Hill. Very casual man. Drake flourished under his term of Presidency there.

He would be considered a very left leaning Dem now (according to the current crop of Iowa pubbers) given his stance and willingness to welcome opening Iowa's borders to Vietnamese and providing them a pathway to citizenship.

/Iowa will lose a good one when R.D. Ray passes.//Braindead will never be half the man or governor that he is/was.///The Ray girls knew how to behave themselves when dad was in charge. Eric Branstad, not so much.

Democrats complaining that their jobs and TPS reports are required bureaucracy is not new. Eliminating both the reports and their authors save more money than the payout. Let them keep their staplers and Move On.

tbeatty:Democrats complaining that their jobs and TPS reports are required bureaucracy is not new. Eliminating both the reports and their authors save more money than the payout. Let them keep their staplers and Move On.

Yes.

Must hide cronyism. It works.

Do you have any problem with a GOP governor paying for this with tax payers money? I bet not.

Farkin_Crazy:tbeatty: Democrats complaining that their jobs and TPS reports are required bureaucracy is not new. Eliminating both the reports and their authors save more money than the payout. Let them keep their staplers and Move On.

Yes.

Must hide cronyism. It works.

Do you have any problem with a GOP governor paying for this with tax payers money? I bet not.

Let's be fair, he's never thought through any of his positions. They just exist as vomitus.

Farkin_Crazy:tbeatty: Democrats complaining that their jobs and TPS reports are required bureaucracy is not new. Eliminating both the reports and their authors save more money than the payout. Let them keep their staplers and Move On.

Yes.

Must hide cronyism. It works.

Do you have any problem with a GOP governor paying for this with tax payers money? I bet not.

Yes I do. Downsizing government TPS reports should be bipartisan, despite SEIU. Yet retards insist that incompetent people be employed for life. Retards. Detroit, Chicago and prisons are replete with these assholes. Nothing should be named "Daley" except prisons.

tbeatty:Farkin_Crazy: tbeatty: Democrats complaining that their jobs and TPS reports are required bureaucracy is not new. Eliminating both the reports and their authors save more money than the payout. Let them keep their staplers and Move On.

Yes.

Must hide cronyism. It works.

Do you have any problem with a GOP governor paying for this with tax payers money? I bet not.

Yes I do. Downsizing government TPS reports should be bipartisan, despite SEIU. Yet retards insist that incompetent people be employed for life. Retards. Detroit, Chicago and prisons are replete with these assholes. Nothing should be named "Daley" except prisons.

Who is the retard that should be jailed that you speak of in this instance? Branstad? These people, who were wrongly fired according to what seems to be hush money payments, were cut loose because of their political affiliations.